Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organization
Executive order targets Islamist network fueling attacks on US allies.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on November 24, 2025, launching the formal process to designate specific chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists, imposing severe financial sanctions on the sprawling Islamist network. The directive requires Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to deliver a joint assessment within 30 days, evaluating branches in countries like Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan for terrorist status, with any confirmed designations to follow within 45 days thereafter.
The White House fact sheet accompanying the order accuses these Brotherhood factions of actively supporting violent assaults against Israel and American partners in the region, including material aid to Hamas and encouragement of attacks in the wake of the October 7, 2023, massacre. Lebanese Brotherhood elements allegedly assisted in rocket barrages on Israeli targets, while Jordanian leaders funneled resources to Hamas's militant arm, and Egyptian figures issued calls for aggression against US allies, according to intelligence assessments cited in the document.
This aggressive stance aligns with longstanding Republican demands to curb the Brotherhood's influence, echoing state-level actions like Texas Governor Greg Abbott's recent classification of the group and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as terrorist entities, which bars them from property ownership in the state. The move builds on Trump's campaign pledges to prioritize national security threats, consulting Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in the review process to ensure comprehensive scrutiny of the organization's global reach.
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Founded in Egypt during the 1920s as a political movement to resist secularism and nationalism, the Muslim Brotherhood rapidly expanded across the Arab world, evolving into a potent force that blended social services with ideological advocacy, though it frequently operated underground amid crackdowns. Several nations, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, and Russia, have already branded the entire organization a terrorist group, viewing its transnational structure as a vector for radicalization and unrest.
The executive order establishes a clear US policy to collaborate with regional allies in dismantling designated Brotherhood operations, severing their funding streams and operational capacities to neutralize threats to American personnel and interests abroad. As the 30-day reporting deadline approaches, the initiative signals a broader recalibration of Washington's counterterrorism strategy, potentially reshaping alliances in the Middle East by isolating entities perceived as enablers of instability.
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